Men&#39;s shorts and abdominal support



March 23, 1965 w -r 3,174,482

MEN'S SHORTS AND ABDOMINAL SUPPORT Filed Jan. 3, 1963 United States Patent 3,174,482 MENS SHORTS AND ABDOMINAL SUPPORT Warley L. Parrott, 1300 Queens Road, Apt. 303, Charlotte, N.C. Filed Ian. 3, 1963, Ser. No. 249,165 2 Claims. (Cl. 128-519) This invention relates to undergarments and more particularly to mens undergarments of the shorts type.

A feature of this invention is a mans undergarment which has good abdominal support without sacrificing the desired comfort of the garment.

Heretofore, elastic type supports have been incorporated into undergarments as an integral part thereof, but such garments failed to provide the comfort desired because the elastic type support or band caused the garment to ride up on the wearer, thereby creating a binding action in the garment.

Other abdominal supports in the form of separate bands or belts have complicated fasteners, strings or straps that have prevented general use.

The present invention overcomes these prior art disadvantages by providing a very comfortable garment with two component parts, namely, a complete shorts part and a stretchable band for abdominal support which may be quite easily attached or detached as desired. When worn, this support band is fastened to the shorts at several strategic places and in such a manner as to avoid damage to the knitted shorts in attaching and detaching the support band. The band may be attached with equal case either before or after donning the shorts portion of the garment.

Other advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the complete undergarment with an abdominal band secured to the shorts portion.

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the garment illus trated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the abdominal band with the bottom edge turned up to show the fastening means.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a portion of the shorts and band.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the garment there shown comprises an abdominal band and shorts 11, the latter being of the type of mens undergarment disclosed in U. S. Patents Nos. 2,232,950, issued February 25, 1941, and 2,462,508, issued February 22, 1949. The band 10 extends around the entire circumference of the waist portion 12 of the shorts 11, and is shown attached to the shorts by the snap fasteners 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21.

The abdominal band 10' separated from the shorts is illustrated in FIGURE 3. It is formed of stretchable material, such as elastic webbing, and should be knit in a manner so as to provide circumferential stretchability, but no appreciable vertical stretchability. These stretchability characteristics are an important factor in overcoming the undesirable tendency of prior support garments to ride up on the wearer. The circumferential stretchability provides liveliness and flexibility which allows unimpeded movement by the wearer, while the relatively inelastic vertical properties of the band cause it to remain in the desired position during and after body movement. Also, the band 10 is formed with the front 22 and back 23 portions wider than the side portions in order to provide a substantial degree of support to the abdominal and sacroiliac regions of the wearer. The knitting of the band 10 is carried out in a manner so as to present a finished appearance on the upper and lower edges 24 and 25, respectively.

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An important feature of the present invention is the location of one of the components of the snap fasteners 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 on the seams and elastic band of the shorts 11. This positioning provides a mechanical advantage in that the durable, reinforced seam areas permit ready attaching and detaching of the band 10 from the shorts 11 without tearing the knitted material. If the fasteners were placed at points other than on or near the seams or other reinforced areas, the garment would be susceptible to tearing, especially after repeated attaching and detaching.

The fasteners are placed at strategic locations in order to hold the band securely in place, and consequently, further reduce any tendency to ride up on the wearer. The fasteners may be secured to the shorts and abdominal band by any suitable means, a practical example of which is sewing.

Female components 13b21b of the snap fastening means 1321 are secured to the inside of the abdominal band 10, as shown in FIGURE 3.

In FIGURE 4, the abdominal band 10 is shown partially secured to the shorts 11, with one snap fastener 16, in a closed position. Another snap fastener, comprising parts 14a and 14b, is shown in an open or disengaged position.

The garment described combines the features of support and comfort in a light, flexible undergarment which does not creep or ride up on the wearer.

The foregoing description and views in the accompanying drawing are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the invention to these specific disclosures. For example, the abdominal support band may be made of any suitable elastic or stretchable material such as fabric woven or knitted with rubber yarns or fabrics woven or knitted from Spandex Lycra yarns consisting wholly or principally of polyurethane fibers provided the fabric has substantial widthwise or circumferential stretchability and little or no appreciable vertical stretchability. Also, other types of fasteners besides snaps or grippers may be used provided they are located on the reinforced portions of the garment to prevent damage to the garment with repeated fastening and unfastening.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mens undergarment, the combination of a com plete shorts component comprising a crotch portion, leg portions, and front and back portions joined along seams, and a detachable endless abdominal band adapted to overlie and encircle said shorts component at the area normally covering the lower abdomen and having circumferential stretchability but no appreciable vertical stretchability, said shorts component and said band having complementary fastening means secured respectively to said band and said seams in the shorts component for detachably combining said shorts component with said band and in such a manner as to prevent tearing of said shorts component during normal wear and when detaching said band from said shorts.

2. A mens undergarment as defined in claim 1, and in which said fastening means on said abdominal band 1 and on said shorts component are snap fasteners.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,599,688 Sullivan Sept. 14, 1926 1,983,636 Palkens Dec. 11, 1934 2,059,820 Spain Nov. 3, 1936 2,112,893 Harwood Apr. 5, 1938 2,623,210 Chatfield Dec. 30, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 546,348 Germany Mar. 11, 1932 

1. IN A MEN''S UNDERGARMENT, THE COMBINATION OF A COMPLETE SHORTS COMPONENT COMPRISING A CROTCH PORTION, LEG PORTIONS, AND FRONT AND BACK PORTIONS-JOINED ALONG SEAMS, AND A DETACHABLE ENDLESS ABDOMINAL BAND ADAPTED TO OVERLIE AND ENCIRCLE SAID SHORTS COMPONENTS AT THE AREA NORMALLY COVERING THE LOWER ABDOMEN AND HAVING CIRCUMFERENTIAL STRETCHABILITY BUT NO APPRECIABLE VERTICAL STRETCHABILITY, SAID SHORTS COMPONENT AND SAID BAND HAVING COMPLEMENTARY FASTENING MEANS SECURED RESPECTIVELY TO SAID BAND AND SAID SEAMS IN THE SHORTS COMPONENT FOR DETACHABLY COMBINING SAID SHORTS COMPONENT WITH SAID BAND AND IN SUCH A MANNER AS TO PREVENT TEARING OF SAID SHORTS COMPONENT DURING NORMAL WEAR AND WHEN DETACHING SAID BAND FROM SAID SHORTS. 